My cousin had one of those Valiants with the push button tranny
shifter, (coupe or sedan not a droptop) but it was white with red
interior just like that one, about the same year. My uncle bought it
for him when he was not yet old enough to get a DL, so he kept it at my
grandparents' house. I would stay with them summers in the country on
the farm. They lived on a gravel road maybe 3/4mi long. He would get in
that thing and just beat the absolute sh*t out of it driving up and down
the gravel road, revving to redline then punching the shifter button to
let it go up one. It was surprisingly quick (at least to me being maybe
12yo at the time, he was 14 or 15 I guess). The thing just kept going
though. He would run it out of gas down the road, we would have to walk
back to the house and either siphon some gas from my granddaddy's
tractor or talk him into running us into town to fill a can or two.
We'd go pick up pop bottles along the road to get the 3cent deposits and
get enough for a few gallons of gas, and our granddaddy might throw in a
quarter or two (gas being a quarter a gallon that wasn't bad), at least
until he found the tractor empty.
I got to drive it a coupla times too, that was a thrill, but he wouldn't
let me beat on it. He was an aspiring drag racer or something. He had
a succession of 60s muscle cars, SS396s and such, spent all his money on
the cars and street racing them with his buddies and tearing them up
(one of his SSs caught fire and burned up, I think it might have been a
Successful Fire though it almost incinerated his girlfriend who probably
dropped the cig down in the back seat during some, um, automotive
excitement) and getting into trouble with the cops. After losing the SS
he borrowed his sister's Ford Torino and wrecked it, which really really
set her off as she actually had a decent job and needed the ride. I'm
not sure how they ever resolved that, maybe they have not yet come to
terms on the matter.
He ended up becoming a cop (see how that works?) and in charge of the
motor pool (go figure). After retiring from there he was manager at a
little branch bank in the little town he lived in, and got elected mayor
of it a coupla times. He is a lot more sedate now, and really fat,
though I think he has had like 4 wives, the last one running off a few
months ago. He's a good ol boy though, and fambly, so there's that.
Fond memories of that Valiant.
--FT
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